Feedback & Reports

Another delightful day by the river in social isolation...it's what we have to do! The only company was the local wildlife which was entertaining enough. A very tame robin sat on my bait box/rod/landing net on & off throughout the day; I now know that a little robin can swallow a 9mm. halibut pellet whole & come back for more. A kingfisher was fishing off a willow branch not 10 metres upstream from me , so close in fact I could hear the 'splash' every time he/she dived onto some poor minnow. Cock pheasants everywhere revelling in their extended pass this season, mergansers, goosanders, little grebes diving around the calmer water, moorhens running back & forth across the river, long tailed tits working the bank treeline & much more.
The other creatures working the river bank were Monty's troops on the beat above. On more than one occasion I caught large willow trimmings which tend to start off like a barbel bite but eventually pull your rod in. Probably my fault for not paying attention!
One of the barbel was a decent size & the other a 2lb.ish fish. Good to see the next generation coming through
Thanks again WUF for access & the chance to break the monotony of lockdown.
By the way the Woolhope diversion into Fownhope is much the best. I made the mistake of going via Brockhampton which is a narrow set of roads . You can end up in reverse quite often that way.

2 Barbel, 1 Chub

There were a few fish rising in the steadier paced sections, which is always a nice bonus when fishing in November. The oos trout were all 8 or 9", fat, healthy and did not appear to have spawned yet. Two of them came to a dry.
I couldn't find the larger grayling though - all four were 3 inches, an encouraging sign of course.
The river was at 1ft 6" on the Byton gauge and pushing through, probably about as high as you want it for Lyepole.
A very enjoyable, mild autumn day in the scenic Lugg valley.

4 Trout, 4 Grayling

A pleasant couple of hours on a pale afternoon trundling nymphs through some of the deeper pools to no avail, though a small fish did wriggle off in the pool below the bridge. The leaves had a particular affinity for the beaded GRHE on the point.

2 Anglers. Overcast, calm day with very little wind. We had not fished this beat before but the photo gallery made it look open and accessible. We were all set for a good day. We checked the Lugg cam at Presteigne before setting out and it showed six on the metric scale. Never really managed to interpret these scales as the metric and imperial don't seem to match up. Anyway, based on past experience of the Lugg, 6 seemed OK. However, the beat was was running fast (made it a real effort to advance upstream) and the water was slightly coloured. Slow glides were in very short supply but there were plenty of rapid riffles! Compared with many of the smaller stream beats this one was quite open though access was often difficult. We kept increasing the weight of our flies trying to get them to reach the bottom. Tungsten or double beaded nymphs eventually made it but the fish were in no mood to be caught. Once again, my mate proved he is the better river angler and landed all the fish. Me, I caught my foot in a bramble!
A note for the WUF - we are conscientious anglers who always respect the rules relating to the beat. It would be really helpful of the land owners to offer accessible exit points where the 'no fishing' boundaries are.

2 Trout, 3 Grayling

Managed to get 1 Barbel and a couple of good 5lb Chub all fell to pellet/feeder tactics close in the margins river was clear with lots of leaves coming thru , a misty but mild day .

1 Barbel, 2 Chub

Have been watching the gauge drop this week, hoping it would get down to 1'6 or so. At 1'9 this morning I wasn't sure how fishable the river would be, but with the sun shining and a load more rain forecast for next week, it was now or never. Arrived to find the river belting through, but relatively clear, and managed to find a few grayling with the aid of some big tungsten beads and slightly sketchy wading. First time I've been since the all the earthworks and clearing work - it is indeed pretty extensive and looks quite stark at the moment. It will be interesting to see how it settles down - fingers crossed we haven't traded too much fish holding structure, cover and shade for ease of casting and access.

2 Trout, 13 Grayling

Conditions seemed perfect - 1 fish between two anglers dawn til after dusk, trying a number of swims and baits - this beat has been very productive for me previously this year - baffled - but such a nice spot - lovely day in nature.

1 Barbel

Short session before heading home due to lockdown being reimposed! 2 nice barbel though, so well worth nipping to this lovely beat!

2 Barbel

3 Grayling

The day after the first frost of the winter and a sharp drop in the air temperature gave me the perfect excuse for my blank.